Last weekend while messing around, I finally manged to record my contribution to the language vlog meme that’s been going around; my inspirations in this are Louise of A View into my World and Steph of 3 Hours Past the End of the World. The idea is to actually hear how some of our bloggy friends around the world sound, and get a sense for the differences in both accent and idiom that don’t always come across in text. Lots of fun. I found it pretty interesting that while I’d say that Steph and I have the same “general” accent (she may disagree 😉 ), we differed on a lot of the vocabulary points.
Anyway, the words are:
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught
And these are the questions:
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you change the TV channel with?
I hope you enjoyed this (and I appologize for my many ums and ahs… I can do public speaking, but apparently not without a few more dry runs, sigh.) I’d love to see more of these, if anyone out there wants to join in!
I promise I’ll be back with actual sewing soon! 🙂
Tanit-Isis Sews 
Interesting! I’m sure if I did one of these I’d sound like a hillbilly to everyone 🙂
Do it! I’d love to hear however you sound. 🙂
….this has blown my mind. If only because you sound *nothing* like I anticipated, and I can’t even tell you what that was or what it would resemble. utter craziness.
LOL! Love how that happens, eh?
If it helps, I don’t think I sound like me either…
How fun! Love the bunny hug word 🙂
Spread the bunnyhug love!
OMG so IN on this one. Dialect is one of my favorite subjects. (Totally disappointed you didn’t say “oot”… or did you and I just don’t even notice it anymore???) Excellent meme!
As far as I can tell, I say “about” (or “out”) just like every other normal person, with an ow rather than an oo sound. I was thoroughly confused when I first encountered the “oot and aboot” mythos. (I did say “about”, so you can replay and tell me what you think.) I may, however, be delusional. Also, they should’ve included “roof” and “news”…
Eh, on the other hand, is something I have to actively fight against ;).
“roof”, of course, rhymes with “hoof”. Everyone knows that.
You dud NOT say “oot” but I have come across my fair share of Cannucks (including my SIL) and they mostly do say “oot”. I’m thinking maybe it’s more of an “east of the Mississippi” thing… er… which would be in Canada an, uh, “east of Thunder Bay thing”. Eh?
oh my god this is too cool. i am a GEEK for this kinda stuff. i think i may record one first, so i’m not swayed, then listen to yours! SUPER GEEK OUT!!
do it! I can’t wait to see it! 😀
I love bunnyhugs… Listening to you, I guess it’s no wonder people are constantly asking me if I miss Canada… What fun. My little girl was in the other room when I played the vid and kept saying “Mommy, what? What are you saying?”
I guess I was expecting that you’d open your mouth and I’d hear rock music. 🙂
So? Do you miss Canada? 🙂
This was very entertaining. I had to stop the video and laugh (affectionately, of course) for a minute because you sound so Canadian. Two big differences between your accent and mine: you enunciate better and speaker higher in your voice, which sounds cheerier. Oh another difference-you raise your voice at the end of sentences.
The “aboot” is pretty strong among small town natives in North Dakota and Minnesota and I’ve heard it in my friends from Manitoba and Ontario. I don’t know aboot elsewhere. I’m guilty of it myself, but I probably say it that way half the time. I tried to get rid of my accent when we lived on the east coast, but now that we’re back in our home territory again, hehe, I guess it never left me.
And see, I’ve never noticed a difference in the way my friends from Manitoba and Ontario speak, or for that matter the few North Dakotans I’ve met (mind you they’re mostly from the big cities, not small towns)… so I wonder if I’m just “oot” deaf? Am I going around saying “oot” and not knowing it?
As for the raising my voice at the end of sentences, that might just be recording jitters. Or perhaps my timid and polite Canadian nature. 😉
There are big cities in North Dakota???
Haha, I was going to say that, too. There IS a city…
T: I wonder if the spelling “oot” is throwing you off. It’s not a terribly good transcription of the sound.
That said, the phenomenon seems random to me. Maybe some people have the gene for it and some don’t.
I think I’m taking my idea of the pronunciation from the old South Park movie, which is the first place I heard of it… So that might be the root of the problem. 😉
Er, well, I was mostly referring to the Manitobans and Ontarians of my acquaintance, who are mostly from Winnipeg, Toronto, or Ottawa. But then, I’m from Saskatchewan… It doesn’t take much to count as “big” to me… 😉
Hi (sorry to jump in randomly on your conversation!)
I think the “oot” is from our friends in the far east of Canada. I’ve worked with a few people from Newfoundland specifically and they definitely have said “aboot”… Canada is so vast, it’s funny to me how one thing can stereotype the entire country. I personally grew up in Southern Alberta and haven’t noticed anyone pronounce it that way.
Bunny hugs are very Saskatchewanese (can I call it that?) Growing up my siblings and I called them “kangaroo jackets”… I’m definitely not sure where that came from.
You sound so sweet and lovely. 🙂 I guess I was expecting you to open your mouth and I’d hear rock music or something. What fun! I’m so glad you played.
Bunnyhug is the cutest word in the English language.
LOL! Thanks (I guess?) Speaking in rock music would be fun…
Spread the bunnyhug! I hate saying hoodie, but I tend to use it so I don’t confuse everyone. 🙂
I love this idea! Thanks for sharing 🙂 I love that a couple of people expected you to speak rock music, so funny!! As far as “about”, seems you do have a slight “oot” to it, at least as it sounds to me. But not as extreme as I’ve heard on HGTV (do you get that channel, seems like lots of shows are based in Canada!). I think it’s really cool to hear bloggers talk, Casey and Gertie are the 2 I think do it the most often.
I love this kind of thing because I grew up in the northeast US, but moved to the south when I was 15 or so. I have family from South America and New York, so the accents have always been entertaining. I love hearing differences in word choice and accents (which makes blogging so cool because you meet people from all over the world!). Sometimes I’m not sure what my accent must sound like since I’ve lived in different parts, but maybe if I did this I could get opinions from people!
I remember the first time I listened to one of Gertie’s videos, her voice really surprised me (I don’t know why…). I haven’t listened to Casey’s as a lot of hers are hairstyle tutorials, which just depress me as I secretly yearn for long, thick tresses but am stuck with thin, fine hair that really only works when kept short.
We do get HGTV although I pretty much never watch it (my husband is lord and master of the television).
I’d love to hear your “mixed” accent! 🙂
You sounded just as I expected. I live in Juneau, Alaska and before that in the northwest corner of Washington (state). All my life I have heard Canadians mostly from BC your accent is almost identical; your just a little north and east of where I currently live.
Love your sewing projects. Your white coat is perfect for this time of year. And spring is just around the corner–my crocuses have just started to bloom and the raspberries are budding (no leafing yet). I have put away the heavy wool stuff but I kept out my thin gloves.
Yeah it’s finally feeling like spring here—we’ve had rain, and thunderstorms (and hail!) this week, rather than snow ;). And a few heavenly days of sun. I am so happy to have tat coat to wear, too :D.
Girl, are you sitting on the toilet in this video? Fun project!
Shh! It was the only room with good enough light!
You sounded exactly like I was expecting, and usually I’m way off on that sort of thing. I was disappointed that there wasn’t even one “eh” though. 😛
Haha! I used to thnk I didn’t say “eh”, but I think I sometimes sneak it in at the end of a question and think I’m saying “hey?” but drop the H. I don’t think it’s as common out west, though…
I don’t say “eh”, but I do say “hey” as you describe.
Great idea and very instructive for someone like me whose mother tongue is French.
Actually, I found your accent very easy to understand.
I can’t have enough of these videos .
Awesome! Can I jump on the bandwagon too? I have what a friend of mine calls an “Atlantian” accent. Which is like a metropolitan version of southern.
Absolutely! I can’t wait! 😀
I also grew up in Saskatchewan – Moose Jaw though. I agreed with your pronunciation of everything except ‘data’. I think you said it two short ‘a’s, but I’ve always said ‘day-ta’. Hmmm.
Regarding bunnyhugs, I thought that was an age thing. (Pretty sure I’m older than you) and that the new way to call them was hoodies – just like when I grew up ‘thongs’ were summer footwear but now they’re known as flip-flops. Of course my sister corrected me recently and said that bunnyhugs specifically had to be pulled over your head, had a hood, and had a single pocket in front to put your hands into, whereas hoodies today zipper up the front.
Another good word for pronunciation is ‘aluminum’. And ‘apricot’
Ooh, and pecan. I was glad to hear you say pee-can. My husband grew up in Saskatoon and insists it’s puh-CAN. Corrects me every time.
I too was initially surprised by your voice. I love these videos. It’s so great to put a voice to all the words I have been reading !
Very nice to put a voice (and accent) to your face. An interesting project.
Oh, what fun to see you “live” after reading your blog all this time! I love the idea of this project… and I love the term “bunny hug” … I am going to have to start using that one!
Very cool concept. I live (and grew up) west of Toronto, but my husband grew up in Manitoba. I’ve found a few words that didn’t make it across the Great Lakes. Jambuster is Manitoban for a jelly filled doughnut. He will also on occasion call potatoes, pa-tay-ties. I thought he was just being silly until his mom said it that way. I’m pretty sure he thinks of a bluff the way you do.
Other words to add to the list would be schedule and garage.
That’s very cool! I have a hard time localising accents, since English isn’t my mother tongue, but I’m working on it. I’m fairly sure I can correctly pinpoint Irish, Aussie and Kiwi dialects because of my recent travels but regional North American dialects are a lot harder…
This is really so cool! I loved hearing your voice! Thank you so much for doing this! I am definitely going to go over and check out the links to the other girls now too…
And your accent is far from boring… I loved it, I have to confess I thought you sounded more “American” than the Canadians I personally know, except I definitely heard the aboot… sorry! :))
I guess it’s just how that word sounds to our Aussie ears compared to how we pronounce about, though… hmmm I’m wondering if I can work out how to do this myself, although my accent really is boring! Plus a vlog might be a bit too technologically challenging for me! 😉
What a fun idea this is!
You and I have the same accent (obviously), but you sound so much more proper than I do. You say “sure” to rhyme with “sewer” (which my high school drama teacher taught us was the CORRECT way, lol). I say it more like “sherr”. But thanks for pointing out that WESTERN Canadians pronounce it “abowt” not “aboot”… that’s the way ppl in southern Ontario say it. Which really is a significant amount of the Canadian population, so I understand why the world at large thinks ALL Canadians talk like that.
I’d love to hear some Newfoundlanders read that list, lol! And what are those questions for? Obviously a carbonated beverage is pop! 🙂
I did one too! It’s on my blog…
Hi
Love this idea and you speak so clearly! It is strange to hear someone’s voice after you’ve been reading their blog for a little while imagining what their voice sounds like. I had a go at it here… http://pearlsandlace.blogspot.com/2011/05/blog-voices.html
Thanks for the inspiration!
Great to hear your voice after reading your blog for a while. I think all your pronunciations are what I would expect, but I used to work with someone from Saskatchewan, Saskatoon! (I don’t know how close that is to you). I don’t think that there are as many differences in speech as there used to be, maybe to do with international availability of of many TV shows. I live in Essex in the UK, where the local accents that were here have evolved into something that the media call ‘estuary’ English. My grandad (from this area) had a very strong Essex accent and it seems that it is only that generation that still have the accent. Not sure I’m brave enough to do one of these myself though
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Interesting! No one ever sounds like I expect them to. Same as radio DJs never looking like I expect.
The bugs that roll into a ball are rollie pollies (or maybe roley poley? Don’t know if I’ve ever seen it in print) or more commonly pill-bugs. They are decomposers. (If you have a dog, you’ve probably seen them when you scoop before you mow the yard.) They are sort of a faded black color and look like an armadillo with “armored plates” down their backs. They are only about 1 cm long and roll to about half that size. In the movie A Bug’s Life, I think their names are “Tuck” and “Roll”, hehe.
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